Contrary to the confusing reports of media and news agencies, the Green Zone newspaper Al-Sabah published a very optimistic headline today:
More than the half of the parliament members supports the security agreement of withdrawal.
Despite the split between supporters and opposition, but there is a big opportunity to pass Security Agreement especially that the number of the MPs in favor of the pact exceeds the opposition.
But what published today on Al-Arab today, explains the reality behind the Al-Sabah previous report:
The majority of parliament members reject the security agreement.
Voting method decides if SIFA can pass the parliament or not, if the parliament uses the simple majority method (the half+1) then SOFA can pass, some of them want to use the absolute majority (180 vote), which makes it difficult to pass.
The we understand is that the opposition blocs refuse the use of the simple majority method are led by the Sadirsts, who are threatened to go to the Federal Court to challenge the use of the previous voting system, as reported on the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Watan.
The newspaper also mentioned that Talabani is using a “primitive” method to attract the votes of the opposition MPs by organizing lunch parties [which worked with some Sunni MPs].
Iraqi writer Najah Mohammad Ali wrote to Swiss-Info that there are no serious internal or external opposition to SOFA. Ali says that we hear now and then some Iranian voices oppose SOFA a, but this is part of the “diplomatic etiquette” between Iran and the United States.
On the internal political positions, he wrote:
There are no major differences among the positions of the political blocs, Kurds, Arabs, Sunnis and Shiites except the Sadrists, all of them agree on importance of signing the pact with the United States.
The Sunni political bloc “Accordance Front” for example; takes position on one item in SOFA, which is to release the detainees in the American prisons and not hands them over to the Iraqi authority.
The Association of Islamic Scholars [AMSI], always demanded a timetable to withdraw the American troops, and this is provided by the Security Agreement.
As for the Sadrists, there is no program [or vision] behind their SOFA’s rejection. They are already part of a political process hosted by the occupation and they refuse to sign a pact for the withdrawal of the occupation.
At last, one reasonable argument from Jordanian writer Muwafaq Mahadin:
It seems that the Iraqis are busy with the Security Agreement and forgot the Oil Agreement, which organizes the theft of Iraqi oil.
Ladysweetie,
Ahmad Chalabi has an Op Ed in the International Herald Tribune.
LOL, he is such a con man.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/23/opinion/edchalabi.php
His op-ed doesn’t answer the question:
Why Sistani refused to meet him three weeks ago?